Let me introduce you to my sweet friend Katie at Simple Foody. She has a real gift for for making real food affordable through her frugal and creative approach to cooking. Today, Katie is sharing one of the simple and delicious ways she stretches her food budget to serve healthy, nutrient-dense meals.
Guest post by Katie at Simple Foody
Soup can be a frugal, yet delicious way to feed your family, which is why I recently posted “64 Nourishing Soups for Fall” – an amazing round-up of some of the best seasonal soups on the internet.
Of course, some soups are what I like to call “ultra frugal” – helping to maximize your food budget while still providing a satisfying nutrient-dense meal. Making soup out of leftovers is a great way to stretch those grocery dollars.
For instance, rather than discarding bones from a roast chicken, I like to save them for making stock. After dinner, I’ll throw any bones into the crockpot and cover with water. I’ll also toss in any leftovers vegetables from the fridge (or veggie scraps from preparing dinner). Then, cover and cook the mixture overnight on low.
By morning the house is filled with the savory aroma of chicken stock. I let it keep simmering until lunch or dinner. Then I carefully pour the contents of the crockpot into a mesh colander that sits inside a stockpot, collecting all that yummy chicken stock. I place about two quarts of the stock into a stockpot over medium heat. (The rest I save to make other recipes like nourishing rice.)
Then, I add whatever soup-worthy vegetables I have on hand, as well as some rice (or gluten-free pasta). I also gather any remaining meat from the colander and place into the stockpot. Within 30 minutes I have a rich, nourishing soup that was nearly free considering most of it was made from scraps that would have headed to the compost (or trash) otherwise.
There is no strict recipe for Peasant Soup. So please consider this “recipe” as a simple guideline to help inspire you in developing your own deliciously frugal Peasant Soup!
Ingredients
- 2 quarts (8 cups) homemade bone broth
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice (or 2 cups uncooked GF pasta)
- Leftover chicken meat
- Fresh or dried herbs of your choice (ex. thyme, parsley, bay leaf)
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Feel free to add your favorite vegetables – whatever you have on hand.
- Cover and allow soup to simmer 10-30 minutes (at least 10 minutes if you’re adding pasta or firm vegetables like potatoes, or up to 30 minutes, if adding brown rice).
- Remember to make this recipe your own. Don't feel as if you are limited to chicken bones only. If you have leftover pork or beef ribs, pork chops or steak bones, simply cover the bones with water and make a bone broth in the same way described above. Then, after you’ve strained the broth, pick off any remaining meat from the bones and add it to your soup. (You don't need much meat, as bone stock is full of nutrient-dense gelatin and protein.)
Notes
Budget-Saving Tip: You can generally save several dollars per pound by purchasing whole chickens rather than pre-cut chicken pieces or breasts. This is especially true when it comes to organic chicken, which can be pricey. Roasting whole chickens is an easy way to gain a lot of succulent meat, and also – as this recipe suggests – make use of the bones to create a nutritious stock perfect for soups and other meals.(Learn more on how I save money here.)
Happy Fall Blessings, Katie at Simple Foody
Meet Katie!
Katie is a military wife and mother of four. She is passionate about family, food and serving the LORD. By day you may find her changing diapers, folding laundry, home educating her older children, and cooking three meals a day with a baby on her hip next to a sink of dirty dishes. By night she writes and shares recipes, tips, and tutorials for economical, nourishing and simple gluten-free foods at Simple Foody. Join Katie and the Simple Foody Community on Facebook for encouragement on your journey to healthier living.
I’ve definitely been looking forward to fall/winter all summer to try out more soups and stews! This is a great guideline for creating lots of soups. I’ve never made bone broth before, probably because I usually just buy chicken breasts or tenders. BUT, if I ever buy a whole chicken (which I’d like to do to use the meat in a few different dishes), I will definitely try this. 🙂
Blessings,
Nicole @ WKH
Thanks so much, Nicole! Glad this post inspired you. BTW, I popped over to your site and loved your post on not being a twitter-spammer. Couldn’t agree more! Glad the Lord has crossed our paths! Blessings, Kelly 🙂
Love the idea of peasant soup and using what you not only have on hand, but essentially what would have been WASTED and being such a good steward of it. A girl after my own heart! Much love Kelly & Katie! ~Tiffany
Thanks, Tiffany! 🙂